Penguins, Bears will face off Sunday

GLENS FALLS, N.Y. - There are several Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who have never played on a stage as grand as the one waiting for them Sunday evening in Hershey, when the Penguins and Bears are scheduled to face off at Hersheypark Stadium in the American Hockey League's fifth outdoor game.

For them, Adirondack Phantoms winger Shane Harper offers some friendly advice. Take it all in.

Harper made the most of his opportunity last season, when he scored 58 seconds into overtime to finish off Adirondack's 4-3 triumph over Hershey in the AHL Outdoor Classic at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.

Harper, whose mother's family is from the Wilkes-Barre area and has a grandmother, Isabelle Haun, living in Plains Township, finished a two-on-one rush by backhanding a puck through the pads of Bears goalie Braden Holtby.

The goal completed a comeback that began when the Phantoms tied the game in the closing half-minute of regulation, making an already unforgettable day that much more memorable.

"It was the best goal I've ever scored in my career," said Harper, now a third-year pro.

The Phantoms held a morning skate at Citizens Bank Park before the game, so they had a chance to see what was waiting for them when they returned for the main event later that night. But Harper did not expect to see an AHL-record crowd of 45,653 packing the stadium to the brim when he and the Phantoms emerged from the dugout and began the long walk toward the temporary rink erected on the diamond.

Earlier that week, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers had squared off on that same rink for the NHL's Winter Classic. The turnout for the Phantoms' game more than doubled the AHL's single-game attendance record.

"When we stepped out for the game I was looking all around me, 360 degrees," Harper said.

What was left of the crowd erupted when Harper's tally trickled through Holtby's pads, seconds after the winger stole the puck from a Hershey defenseman at the far blue line. After scoring, Harper raised his arms, dropped to one knee and slid toward center ice, where he leapt into the arms of one of the teammates that swarmed him.

"I think it was probably the coolest game any of us have ever played," Harper said. "It was hard to describe the feeling of playing outside in an arena like that and how many fans there were. It was kind of indescribable and nobody thought it was going to be that cool."

Some of the Bears probably have a good idea of what to expect.

Holtby has gone to Washington Capitals training camp, so the Penguins likely do not have to worry about him. But a handful of Bears who dressed for last year's Outdoor Classic - Boyd Kane, Tomas Kundratek, Garrett Mitchell and Holtby's backup goaltender, former Penguin Dany Sabourin - could be in the line-up Sunday.

Instead of playing on the road, they will be playing steps from the Hersheypark Arena that was home to their franchise for more than 60 years.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's roster is spotted with pro outdoor experience. Defenseman Dylan Reese skated for the Syracuse Crunch in a 2010 victory at the New York State Fairgrounds, the AHL's first outdoor game. And center Phil Dupuis played for the Toronto Marlies in a January 2012 win at Hamilton, Ontario's Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Other Penguins have skated in collegiate or junior ice hockey outdoor games, and several more skated outdoors on frozen ponds as youth hockey players. The latter wasn't an option for Harper, who grew up in Valencia, Calif.

The only outdoor hockey games he played as a child involved rolled blades.

He still remembers strapping on the pads and tending goal for some of those street hockey duels, but those memories pale when compared to the ones he made with his overtime goal iced the Bears last January.

"It was just an amazing experience," Harper said.

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